SCZ London Cheerleaders

Here is a list of the most common worse case scenarios. Don't let this page scare you, but if you get through a cheerleading career without any of these things happening to you consider yourself one lucky cheerie.

Someone drops out one week before competition

Ohmigod. My perfectly choreographed routine has just gone bagarup because one of my cogs, sorry cheerleaders, is missing. Aaaaaaah!!!! Calm down. Rechoreograph every section she is in sensibly. If she's missing from a bit of dance, just mess with the formation a little, but don't change the steps (this will mess everyone around). Stunting is more problematic. If someone else can do her part and is dancing or tumbling at that point in the routine move them in. Or choose a replacement who is front spotting, see if her original group can live without her. If any changes seriously affect more than two members from outside that stunt group, sacrifice that stunt. A prep in the middle of the routine can easily become a thighstand. Decide on the necessary changes, implement them and have extra practices straight away for those they affect.

A word of advice: be very flexible in your choreography, and in the months leading up to the competition, work hard on learning new skills / dance sections, but try and leave final formations as late as possible - possibly 2 weeks or less before the competition. After VERSION 7 of the formation sheet, you catch on to the concept that in the real world, there are a lot of drop outs / replacements going on all the time.

Same thing only 24 hrs before comp

If there's absolutely no way you have time to adapt the routine then call up the competition organisers and tell them what's happened. They will inform the judges and you can stand clean during the affected stunt. I have seen this done before. Whatever you do, don't just dropout of comp, it's not worth it.

It's game day and only a handful of cheerleaders turn up

Unfortunately you can't force peole to turn up. Don't punish the ones that have by being stroppy at the match. You have spirit, use it. If the half time routine you planned is now totally impossible, here's a fail safe. Do your best jump all together then do a fun long cheer (you know one of the one's you never get to do in the match because it's too complicated), once through with poms. Then chant the tagline of the cheer whilst putting up the coolest stunt you can muster. If you have a tumbler present, make her do her thing during the cheer. Crowd saw poms. Crowd saw girl in the air. Crowd happy.

You get hit in the face with a ball

Happens to the best of us. My flatmate is still known as that cheerleader who got hit in the face with a rugby ball at half time. Take it in you stride, and try and get a hug off the team member who whacked you with it later on.

Practice isn't fun anymore

You've been working your squad hard for a special event like a performance or a comp and everyone's fed up. No one sees why they need to go to so many practices, people aren't turning up, someone got dropped and cried, it's all gone Pete Tong. First things first, look at what you're doing wrong. When you're asking people for so much of their time, you have to make sure that time is used productively. Plan every minute of every practice to make sure everyone is doing something all the time. Get there early and set out the mats so not to waste time. If one stunt group isn't working, go through their stunt separately whilst everyone else does dance and cheer. Also, bribe your squad into being nicer people. Spirit ribbons and medals are super cheap from wholesalers. Hand them out to everyone one practice as a reward "for all your hard work and support" (yeah right the ungrateful so and sos). Have a relaxed sleep over social at your place involve copious amounts of pizza and Bring It On. A combination of pizza and Bring It On will placate any angry cheerie.

Your uniforms don't come in in time for competition

This happened to Lincoln at uni comp 2005. You have to do what they did. Go to the nearest sports shop and buy the cheapest matching set of vest and shorts you can find. It is upsetting, you're not marked on your uniform, but it does contribute to the impact of your routine. Cheerleaders on the whole are very nice people
though, so don't worry, no one's going to take the mickey.

The weakest link

You don't have enough members for tyrouts, but one of your cheerleaders is rubbish. She can't stunt, she can't dance, she can't tumble, she doesn't smile, and she's quiet as a mouse.

Not many squads have a team of Olympic athletes. If you do not have tryouts for your team, do not kick them out of the squad, you'll look like a total bitch and give cheerleading a bad name. Moreover, it's mean. Remember, there are certain things anyone can do. Front spotting is easy to learn, and by doing this she'll learn the dynamics of a stunt as well as increase her strength. Anyone's jumps will improve with practice, and just make sure she gets the prep right and keeps her upper body up, after all that's what the judges are really looking at. As for the whole spirit aspect, that doesn't take any physical skill, just a change in attitude. I'm not a naturally smiley individual, but you wouldn't ever guess that if you saw me on the big blue mat.

One of your cheerleaders is amazing, but she's really bossy

She stunts, she tumbles and she's got a high kick like a Moulin Rouge dancer. She also has five years of cheer experience on you, so why isn't she in charge?

So there's dissention in the ranks. Every time you put together a routine she spends half your practice time picking it apart. "Don't you think it would be better if we did a double dip on that cradle?", or "that transition makes no sense, if we did it like this..." are all she seems to say. Handle it like a politician. Give her something to do that puts her in the centre of attention and stretches her abilities. For example, give her a complex set of tumbles at a boring point in the routine that she'll have to spend half of practice working on on a mat in the corner. This keeps her occupied and gives you a better routine without any extra work from you. Don't let her interupt practices with her opinions. Every time she starts just say "no". And if you want to benefit from her skills and experience have private meetings with her out of practice and ask for her advice on the routine.